Assam govt did not pay for new Governor’s guests: Raj Bhavan

Those who came to Guwahati to attend the swearing-in ceremony of governor Mukhi included a cabinet minister from Jammu & Kashmir, two MPs from Delhi and Haryana, and two Mayors from Delhi, the PRO said.

One day after a Raj Bhavan official had said that the state government would have to incur an expenditure of about Rs 25 lakh in hosting about 200 personal guests of Assam’s newly-appointed governor Jagdish Mukhi when the latter was sworn in on Tuesday, the Raj Bhavan PRO has said that all guests had come on their own and no expenditure was incurred from the state exchequer.

“All the guests had come on their personal expenses and no expenditure was incurred from the state exchequer for their travelling and other amenities,” the Raj Bhavan PRO in a press release said on Thursday, also adding that only 171 and not 200 guests of the governor had come from Delhi and other places to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

“Though 191 guests were to come, but because of delayed flights, 20 guests could not come and the total number of guests who actually came was 171. Among the 171 guests, 40 guests had come only on the day of oath taking ceremony and had left on the same day (October 10). Again, about 20 guests had stayed in Guwahati at their own expenses and later had gone to visit some other places,” the press release said.

Those who came to Guwahati to attend the swearing-in ceremony of governor Mukhi included a cabinet minister from Jammu & Kashmir, two MPs from Delhi and Haryana, and two Mayors from Delhi, the PRO said.

On Wednesday, a senior Raj Bhavan official who did not want to be named, had told The Indian Express that while there were about 200 guests of the new governor from Delhi and other places, all had travelled on their own, but their hospitality was looked after by Raj Bhavan, the Kamrup (Metro) district authorities and the general administration department of the state government.

“It is a fact that about 200 relatives and personal guests, apart from family members of the Governor had arrived here to attend the swearing-in ceremony. But all of them had come on their own and the state government would only foot their bills for local stay and local travel. They were put up at the Raj Bhavan guest house, the Guwahati Circuit House, and a few hotels of the city,” the Raj Bhavan official had told The Indian Express on Wednesday.

A section of the local media in Guwahati had put the number of guests of the new governor at around 500 and claimed that the Assam government had incurred an expenditure of about Rs 5 crore on their travel and stay.